Tennis: Payouts for men increase
NEW DELHI: We have been here before. A botched-up World Cup, a bilateral series yearning for context, and promises of a changed template. A year ago, after they crashed out of the T20 World Cup in UAE, India invited New Zealand home and beat them 3-0. West Indies and Sri Lanka were humbled by the same margin as India gradually began to walk the fearless talk.
Yet, a year on, the conversations induce a sense of deja vu. The misfiring openers, the conservative top order, the lack of T20 specialists culminating in the seemingly interminable wait for an ICC trophy. India are playing the Kiwis again, this time in New Zealand, and the promise of a course-correction is still alive. Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, and Ravichandran Ashwin have decided to take a rest and the selectors have picked Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, and Washington Sundar as replacements. It’s an ideal opportunity for the youngsters to once again show what they are capable of. With the next T20 World Cup two years away, the rebuilding starts now. Helmed by Hardik Pandya, who led India to a 2-0 win in Ireland in June, the visitors — not for the first time in recent past — will hope to turn a corner in their T20 approach.
“T20 cricket requires you to play with a lot of freedom and clarity of thought, and whatever time I have spent with these players, I think it is their strength. At the same time, it is important to assess the conditions and fulfil the needs of the team. It is important to be flexible,” interim head coach VVS Laxman said on the match eve in
Wellington on Thursday.
If India’s top-order’s approach in Ireland is an indicator, the absence of Rohit, Rahul, and Virat may be a blessing in disguise. The top-three is not short of quality, but as the last two World Cups and this year’s Asia Cup have shown, their T20 methods are glaringly outdated.
“Luckily, we have players who have the ability to play fearless cricket and express themselves,” he said, referring to the top-order batters at his disposal. “The message to the boys is: play fearless cricket but you should also be able to adapt to the conditions and situations. Yes, we do not have Rahul, Rohit, and Virat, but the players who have been selected have played a lot of international cricket, particularly T20 cricket,” he added.
Further, Laxman expanded on the need for T20 specialists and multi-dimensional players. “The more multi-dimensional players you have in the team, the better. You have bowlers who can bat and batters who can bowl. That’s the way forward,” he said. With only three genuine all-rounders — Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda, and Washington Sundar — in the 16-man group,
India are still a largely unidimensional team. They will, however, be bolstered by the return of left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav who will be reunited with Yuzvendra Chahal. Chahal, it must be remembered, was one of the form players going into the T20 World Cup in Australia but didn’t get a game. It’ll be interesting to see how Pandya uses his spinners on the notoriously small and oddly-shaped grounds in New Zealand. “Kuldeep and Chahal are wicket-takers and that’s how they’ll have to bowl to beat NZ,” Laxman said.
TURIN: Player compensation on the ATP Tour and the lower-level ATP Challenger Tour will rise to a record $217.9 million combined in 2023, thanks to a $37.5 million increase announced Thursday that is the largest single-season jump for the men’s circuit. Onsite prize money will go up $18.6 million on the ATP Tour, boosted by the growth of Masters 1000 tournaments in Madrid, Rome and Shanghai from 8 to 12day events.
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LONDON: Wimbledon is relaxing its requirement for allwhite clothing to allow female players to wear coloured undershorts to be more comfortable on their periods. Wimbledon’s strict policy about all-white attire for players was one of the best-known features of the grasscourt Grand Slam.
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